Car-coupling



(No Model.) I

S. GARRATT.

GAR COUPLING.

No. 246.744. Patented Sept. 6,1881.

UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICEO SIMEON GARRATT, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 246,744, datedSeptember 6, 1881.

Application filed March 15, 1881.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SIMEON GARRATT, a citizen of the United States,residing at O0- lumbus, in the county of Franklin and State of Ohio,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oar-Couplings; andI do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of referencemarked thereon,which form a partof this specification.

Figure l is a View of a link and two opposing draw-heads, one beingshown in side elevation and the other in longitudinal section. Fig. 2 isa perspective of the coupling-hook detached. Fig. 3 is an end view of adrawhead and coupling-hook. Fig. 4. illustrates the method of coupling ahigher draw-head with a lower.

In the drawings, A A represent the drawhead of a car, which latter maybe of the ordinary character, as my improvements are applicable to carsas they are now commonly.constructed. The part A of thedraw-headispreferably formed with a flaringopening or mouth for thereception of the link. a a are apertures formed in the upper and lowerwalls of the part A, for a purpose to be hereinafter explained. By meansofthe part A the drawhead is secured to the car, and the securing may beeffected in the ordinary manner by a bolt at B and the other customarydevices. 1

O 0 represent the coupling catch. It is pivoted within the draw'head atD, and is arranged to vibrate vertically to alimited extent. It isconstructed with a shank or stem, G, and a double head or hook, 0, onepart projecting upwardly and the other downwardly from the centrallongitudinalline. cis an aperture in the rear end of the shank portion0, through which passes a pin or stem, E, when the hook is in itsposition within the draw-head. The hook portion is formed of a lug, cprojecting vertically from the center. This lug, in crosssection, ismade narrow, to permitit to be used with any of the ordinary links, andalso in order to allow the flexibility required for the necessarymovements of the parts and of the (N0 model.)

cars coupled thereby. The hook has a backwardly-projectin g surface,f,somewhat rounded, over which the endot' thelink can easily slip whenit (said link) is being passed into the draw-head to engage with thehook. The central shank portion, 0, is somewhat wider than the'hook part0 and thus there is formed a shelf or ledge atf on each side of thehook. This shelf or ledge is of such dimension that the link willrestagainstit when engaged with the hook. (See full lines, Fig. 1, anddotted lines, Fig. 2.) The flaring mouth or opening of the draw-head isbut little wider than the outside width of the link, it being arrangedto accurately guide the link to the uppermost point, f of the hook.

g 9, Fig. 1, are lugs or shoulders,which may be formed on the innerfaces of the side walls, though their presence is not essential for theattainment of many of theobjectsof myinvention. They each havea frontinclined edge, 9, and a rear edge, arranged to form apoint at theirintersection.

G G are ears projecting laterally from the side of the hook. Theyconstitutea link-guide, which is of substantially the same width as theinterior of the draw-head. Their edges correspond in position to theledges f around the hook. When the link is at the inner end engaged withthe upwardly-projecting hook, the outer end rests upon the guide, asshown in Fig. 2.

That portion ofthe rear wall, A of the part A of the draw-head whichsurrounds the aperture through which passes the shank of the hook, ispreferably made somewhat concave, as shown at a so that when the link isforced backward or inward it shallhave a firmer bearing than if it wereforced against aplane wall.

H is a lug projecting vertically from the shank of the hook, and is sosituated as to practically close the opening in the rear wall of thepart A and receive the rearward thrust of the link.

The hook may beheld normally in its central position by means of springsat h h, arranged to bear against the upper and the lower side of theshank part 0. However, one or both of the springs may be dispensed with,although I prefer to employ themin substantially the manner shown,finding the automatic operations of the coupling more efficient whenthey are used. The weight of the outer end of the book may be dependedupon for holding the hook down sufliciently far, and a single spring maybe employed, if desired, to hold it up far enough.

The book oscillates upon a shaft, D, which may be longer or shorter, ascircumstances require. This shaft rocks in hearings in the part A of thedraw-head, and is provided with a handle or lever at D, whereby theoperator may swing the hook in either direction, though a handledifferiugfrom the exact construction shown maybe employed,if desired.After the hook has been put into proper position it may be locked thereby a ratchet and pawl or by other suitable devices, though underordinary circumstances the devices that have been described will operateto firmly lock the movable parts of the coupling in the requiredpositions. the book by means of a square portion at (l fitting thesquare aperture 0 in the shank of the hook, though these parts may besecured together by means of a key, the method which I have shown,however, being the cheaper and more substantial.

It will now be seen that if the link be inserted at one end into adraw-head and en gaged with the upper of the hook portions 0 the linkwill naturally take the position shown in Fig. 2-that is to say, willrest upon the ledge or shelf f and upon the laterally-projecting guidesG. If, when thus situated, the opposing draw-head of another car bebrought toward the projecting link, the outer end of the link will bereceived into the interior of the opposing draw-head. The operator, bymeans of the rock-shaft D, can lift or depress the outer end of thelink, so as to cause it to engage with the upper or lowerhook-projection of the opposing draw-head, as may be desired. It willalso be seen that if there be no interference whatever upon the part ofthe operator the outer end of the link will be automatically guided intothe opposing draw-head and behind one or the other of the books therein,so that the devices operate to produce the coupling of the cars whetherthe operator be at hand or not. If the opposing draw-heads be in therelative position shown in Fig. 4- that is to say, if the draw-headcarrying the link be higher than the other-then itis preferable toengage the link first with the lower hook of the higher draw-head andafterward engage it with the higher hook of the other, though it will bereadily seen that the corresponding hooks may be used, even if there begreat difl'erence in the vertical positions of the draw-heads. I havefound that the best results can be obtained by employing the lowerhooks, (which is generally easy, if the opposlng draw-heads be insubstantially the same plane,) inasmuch as the uncoupling isaccomplished without the least trouble, while at the Rock-shaft D ispreferably secured to.

same time the parts remain firmly coupled until intentionallydisengaged.

By this construction and arrangement of parts I am enabled to avoidentirely the expensive and complicated devices which have beenheretofore tried in order to couple together the draw-hcads in dilferentvertical planes. Not only can the link be engaged with an opposingdraw-head whose opening is more or less opposed horizontally to theopening in the first draw-head, but, by means of the swinging oroscillating device, the link may be even carried to points above andbelow the opening in the draw-head, so that the coupling maybe used forany and all of the cars as they are now ordinarily built.

When the link is first engaged with the lower hook the outer end can beforced upward by the operator, if necessary, by rocking the hookdownward, for the link rests upon the lower lugs, g g, which operate asfulcra to raise the outer end of the link.

The simplicity of this construction will be appreciated when it isnoticed that there are but three absolutely essential partsto wit, thedrawhead, the hook, and the pivot-and in practice but a moment or twoare necessary to join the parts of the coupling together and have itentirely ready for use. The hook portion may be longitudinally insertedinto or withdrawn from the draw-head through the outer opening. I avoidentirely the use of the ordinary coupling-pins, which, as is well knownto those acquainted with the construction of cars, are a source of greatexpense. I gain, however, much in strength of attachment, as there isprovided for the link a resisting body of metal from two to three timesas great as that provided by the ordinary coupling-pin. Should either ofthe hooks be broken or impaired the remaining one is still available, ithaving been already explained that either the upper or the lower hookmay be utilized under all ordinary circumstances for coupling opposin gheads, whether they be in the same or in different vertical positions.

By an examination of the drawings-more particularly Fig. 2 thereof-itwill be seen that the hook c is of such peculiar shape that when thelink is in its normal or ordinary positionnamely, resting upon or nearto the shank portion C--it engages firmly with the hook by means of arecess at c, which, under all ordinary circumstances, both holds thelink in engagement and at the same time allows sufficient flexibility ofmovement. The rear edges of the hook are so curved that if either of thedraw heads coupled by the link should be thrown into a very unusualposition-say at an angle of about forty-five degrees to the other, orthe angle at which the car is when it is about to be turned over-thelinkwill be turned upon one of its sides as an axis, so as to be disengagedfrom one or the other of the hooks; and thus an immediate uncoupling ofthe cars will result, which will prevent the overturning car fromcarrying with it the contiguous one, and thus avoid that destruction,both of property and life, which frequently results from the rigid andunyielding couplings in common use. The apertures a a not only permitthe catch to vibrate freely, but also permit the use of a much smallerdraw-head than could be employed if the hooks of the catch were to bealways situated inside thereof.

What I claim is 1. The combination, with the draw-head having theapertures a, a, and w', of the pivoted catch 0 0, having two hooks, 0 0adapted to respectively pass somewhat through the apertures a and a, andthe lugs or shoulders H, adapted to be in or near the aperture a as andfor the purposes set forth.

2. In a car-coupling, the verticallyswinging catch 0 0, having the hooksc 0 adapted to pass through a coupling-link, and havinglaterally-projecting guides G G, adapted to support the outer end of thelink, as and for the purposes set forth.

3. In a car-coupling, a vertically-swinging catch, 0 0, having the hooks0 0 provided with the recesses c on the rear sides, and with the ledgesor shoulders f upon the sides of the hooks.

4. Theherein-described mechanism for coupling together a higherdraw-head with a lower, it consisting of the combination, with thedrawhead A A, provided with the wall A and the aperture a of thevertically-swinging catch G 0, having an upwardly-projecting hook, c

and a downwardly projecting hook, c the shoulders H, and the linkadapted to be coupled with the lower hook of the catch 0 O and with theupper hook of an opposing catch in a lower draw-head, as set forth.

5. The combination, with the verticallyswinging catch 0 0, provided withthe hooks c 0 of the draw-head A A, having the lugs g g on the lateralwalls, with the inclined edges g 9 adapted to guide the coupling-link,as and for the purposes set forth.

6. The combination, with the pivoted catch 0 0, having the hooks c 0 theledgef, and

the laterally projecting guides G G, of the draw-head A A, having thelugs g g on the side walls, with inclined edges g 9 adapted to lift anddepress the outer end of the link when it presses against the saidguides G G and ledge f, as and for the purposes set forth.

7. The combination, with the swingingoatch O 0, having the upper andlower hooks, c c", shoulders H H, and the guides G G, of the draw-head AA, the shaft D, for rocking the catch, the stem 1), and the springs h h,one above and the other below the shank of the swinging catch, as andfor the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SIMEON GARRATT.

Witnesses:

R. D. 0. SMITH, .T. S. BARKER.

